Chapter 53 "Explore"

　The next day.

　We've made it to the front of the labyrinth, but...People who look like challengers are coming and going around in large numbers.

　For some reason, there are even stalls and weapon shops.

　From the outside, it looks like just a cave, but it seems to be the entrance.

　It is completely green, covered with moss and ivy.

　It seems that the place was originally surrounded by trees, but they were cut down and stripped bare for reasons such as transportation.

　Looking near the entrance, I saw quite a few adventurers gathered there having some kind of meeting.

　Ah, those were the same people who were calling out to us yesterday.

"Thank you for coming! Today we are going to make history!"

　"We will traverse this labyrinth and become heroes!"

"We will become Heroes~"

　Oh. You've collected quite a few. I don't care what you say, that woman is really low-key.

　I'd say 30 in total. It looks like they're all blue and yellow, no red.

　I wonder how many of them will make it back alive. I think the survival rate is 10%, right?

　Heidi was thinking the same thing, and gave them a complicated look.

　"I wonder how many of them will come back."

　"I don't know. But I can tell that they are not being forced to go."

　I don't know what kind of sweet talk they were given by the people who were recruiting them, but as long as they go of their own free will, it will be their responsibility to die.

　But...you know what? I'm actually tempted to go in when I see it in front of me.

　I'll take a peek when I'm alone.

　I spent a day looking around the whole city, but I didn't find anything interesting.

It's a city that seems completely maintained by the labyrinth.

　However, because of its location, there are an unusually large number of stores selling weapons and armor. Probably the most stores I've ever seen.

　When we had seen what we wanted to see and were about to return to the inn, Heidi opened her mouth.

　"Hey...can I talk to you for a minute?"

　"What is it?"

　"Actually, I'm running a little low on cash..."

　What is it? You want me to lend you some money?

Maybe she saw the look in my eyes, but she waved her hand hurriedly.

　"No, no! I'm not asking for money!"

　Well, then, just say so.

　Heidi coughs lightly.

"Well, let's see... I'm thinking of taking on a quest for the guild. But there is only room for one more person. So..."

　Oh, I see.

　"I see. When do you start?"

　"We'll start preparations tomorrow and leave the day after tomorrow. I'll be back in four or five days."

　That's a long time.

　But it's good for me, too.

　"I'm sorry. That's why I'd like you to stay in town for a while."

　"Oh, I understand. Good luck."

　Heidi smiled and nodded again and again, saying, "I'll do my best."

　Seeing this, I chuckled inwardly, thinking that she really is like a child.

　Nothing much happened after that, and Heidi left early the next morning.

Well, now that I'm feeling lighter, I guess I'll be going too.

I'm stepping into the dangerous labyrinth. Let's make sure to prepare carefully.

Specifically, eat more food and nourish my energy.

　Once that is decided, let's head to the restaurant first.

　As I was leaving the inn, I suddenly noticed something. What kind of quest did that Heidi fellow accept?

　Come to think of it, I hadn't heard.

　What kind of work ...... would take a few days?

　It doesn't come up. Well, that's okay.

I'll ask her when she gets back.

Once again I'm at the entrance to the dungeon, and it's not that different from yesterday.

　There were a few people hanging around the entrance, either trying to challenge or just watching.

　As I was about to enter, I was stopped by a knight standing guard at the entrance.

　"Hey! What are you doing?"

　"I'm trying to get in."

　"......, are you alone?"

"By myself.""

　The knight exclaimed, then let out a loud sigh.

　"You're an adventurer from somewhere else, aren't you? I know you're just curious to get in, but don't. This is not a place that a novice like you can conquer! Don't waste your life!"

　For some reason, he got angry.

After that, the knight began to talk at length about the dangers of the dungeon.

He told me gratuitous stories about preparation and that if you don't have a friend with you, you will die.

　He was talking seriously, so I listened to him for a few dozen seconds, but I got bored and cut him off in the middle.

　"I understand. Let me through."

　"........., you were listening to me?"

　"Of course I did."

　"Do what you want."

　The knight slumped his shoulders and gave way.

　I silently step aside from the knight and step inside.

　I thought it would be cold inside, but it's rather hot.

　A strange heat caressed my cheeks. I could feel the softness of the moss under my feet.

　Well, first of all, let's search for the enemy. I activated .

Well, with this, I can see where things are, and I can proceed with a certain degree of safety.

If it were a roguelike game, I could see the enemy's position and proceed with ease....

　"......... is for real?"

　There was no response.

　The response was definitely there.

　I could read the bio-signs, but the crazy thing is that they were coming from all over the dungeon, so I couldn't tell where anything was.

　I switched to  as a test, but the results were the same here.

　The dungeon itself was radiating heat, so I couldn't get a reading.

After walking for a while, the light from the entrance does not reach me and it becomes pitch black, but I do not care about the darkness, so I continue walking.

　I was alert to my surroundings as I went along, but I saw no signs of a struggle or bodies.

　A few minutes of boredom passed without anything happening, but there was movement in my field of vision.

　I slow down my walk.

　...There's something out there.

　I see something moving. More than one. Adventurers? I thought it might be adventurers, but immediately denied it.

　There was no way they could be in a place like this without a light.

　As I got a little closer, I could see what they were.

　"Wow..."

　He must have been an adventurer. His body was covered in scars and ivy was coming out from where his ears and eyes used to be.

　When I looked at the body, I saw that the surface of the skin peeking out from the torn clothes had a lot of veins and ivy was growing out of the wounds.

　"Uu...go...a...a..."

　His mouth is moving like he is trying to say something, but unfortunately I have no idea what he is saying.

The point is, if you die here, you become one of them.

　They noticed me and staggered toward me, weapons in hand.

　At first, I hit them with .

　The explosion engulfed the enemy. It looks almost like a plant, so there should be enough leeway if I attacked with fire.

　But they were still coming toward me with energetic steps.

Moreover, they started running halfway through.

When they got in close, they would slash at me with a rough but fast slash.

　I observed as I dodged. Why doesn't it work?

　When I looked closely, I saw that his whole body was charred here and there. It seems that it is not at all ineffective.

　Then why did it survive the explosion?

　A lot of mysterious liquid is flowing from the ivy. In short, it seems that it did not burn because it was wet all over.

　However, this does not mean that they are completely protected, and some degree of damage is inflicted by the impact and the explosion flame.

　As evidence of this, some of them stopped twitching for a moment in the middle of their movements, and others fell over and struggled on the ground.

　I see. It's tough if there are a lot of them.

　Flames are inefficient. Let's change the method.

　I aimed at the neck with the Wind Blade II. It cuts, but I can't sever it. Really?

　I aimed at the same place while keeping my distance, and after the second and third shots, the head finally flew off.

　Did I do it? I thought so, but it had no effect. It just kept coming at me.

　I dropped its arms and legs just to make sure, but it was still moving around.

　Then, to my annoyance, reinforcements appeared from the back.

Ugh.... Not good.

　I thought for a moment and decided to move from destroying them to restraining them.

　I invoked magic . It's a magic that makes the ground rise up like a stake and pierces the opponent.

　I don't think this will buy me any time.

　The magic went off and caught some of them, but the stakes didn't stick and just blew them away.

　I can't pierce them!

　This time I tried to crush them by making a rock mass with , but I stopped.

If I do it badly, the way will be blocked.

Let's change the cut.

If I freeze it with an ice system...impossible. Because of the temperature here, it melts quickly and comes back to life.

In such a case, there is usually a weak point somewhere, and if I destroy it, I can kill it instantly...

It would be troublesome to try this on this many creatures. I wonder if there is any effective attack....　

By the way, I tried hitting it with my club, but it was strangely soft and unresponsive.

　I guess I'll just have to eat it now....

　I grab the face of the guy who cut at me with the broken sword and send a "root" into him.

"...!?"

　I quickly cut myself off from the "root" and let go. It almost grabs me in reverse, but I kick it and blow it away.

I look at my hand. The "root" that came out from the palm of my hand is missing like it was eaten by insects.

　I tried to eat it, but it ate me back.

　Seriously.... Does that ivy have similar properties to my "root"?

　To be honest, I was just thinking that I could just prey on it if I got in trouble, so I'm shocked.

　I wonder how I should attack it.... I think about it while dodging attacks.

　I tried all kinds of attacks: blows, slashes, fire, and ice, but none of them had much effect.

　It's not that they are ineffective, it's just that I don't like the way they work.

　I'm running out of ideas...no, there's something I haven't tried yet.

Invite the nearest guy to attack and get in his pocket.

　I'm going to hit him with a palm strike to the torso and activate . If this doesn't work, consider running away.

If it goes in perfectly, the middle of the torso will become sand and a big hole will open up.

　...Did it go through?

　The corpse, windpunched in the torso, walked unsteadily and collapsed.

　I observe it while fighting off attacks from others. There is no sign of movement.

　It doesn't move. It seems to have been killed.

　It seems to have some kind of weakness in its torso.

　Once I found the strategy, the rest was easy.

　I killed the attackers by turning them into sand from one side to the other, and wiped them out in about a few minutes.

　I inspected the motionless corpse.

　I lightly poked him with a club to check his reaction, but there was none.

Now, can I pick up memories? I examine the corpse with the "root."

　...Memory...seems to be impossible. Maybe because too much time has passed.

　I could eat, but I couldn't find the memory.

　Well, that's okay. At any rate, there seems to be no problem to proceed.

I have time, so let's dive a little deeper.

　After that, I was attacked several times by corpses controlled by plants, but I got rid of them by turning them into sand.

　Most of them were dead adventurers, but there were some who crawled on the ground and attacked me with only their arms and legs, so it seems that they were simply moving the corpses rather than manipulating them like I was.

　So it doesn't matter if they only have arms and legs.

　As for the process of being able to move corpses, it is unknown at this point, but even if I wanted to check, there is no way to find out because they have been completely turned into sand to stop them from moving.

　A closer look at the surroundings while walking reveals traces of the battle, such as partially charred ivy and damaged equipment scattered about.

　Come to think of it, there was a group of visitors here yesterday.

　I wonder what happened to them? Maybe they were mixed in with the corpses I just got rid of?

No, those bodies were in a lot of damage. There were some new ones, but not many.

I think it's safe to say that they went to the back.

　I'd be curious to know how they got rid of those zombie-looking bastards.

　If they were alive, would I be able to see them? Thinking about this, I proceeded deeper inside.